About One Planet Living

Our consumption of the Earth’s natural resources is depleting the planet’s ability to replenish itself - and to sustain life on earth.

3/4 of the world’s fisheries are over-fished and faced with commercial extinction

Half of the world’s original forest has been destroyed. We are losing a further 2% every year.

Species extinction is currently 1,000x the natural evolutionary rate

1/4 of all the birds and mammals on earth are in danger of extinction.

Climate change is already happening, and poses a threat unlike any other facing civilisation.

At the root of these problems is the way that we humans live, work and play.

The way we produce and consume resources is simply unsustainable in the long term.

We are currently using resources at a rate 25% greater than the Earth’s ability to renew them.

Between 1961 and 2003,the impact of human activity on the planet’s ecosystems increased by 150%. If current trends continue, by 2050 we will need a SECOND planet in order to be able to meet our demands for energy, water, food and shelter – and to absorb our wastes.

Clearly we do not have a second planet.

The challenge therefore is to find a way in which all the world’s people can lead happy and healthy lives within the natural limits of our one planet.

We urgently need to build a world in which everyone has a fair share of the Earth’s resources, where there is space for wildlife and wilderness too, and where living sustainably is easy, affordable and attractive.